Specia solid pick for family agency

Updated 5:00 pm, Friday, November 16, 2012

Senior District Judge John J. Specia Jr. has spent the better part of his legal career protecting the best interests of the children in Texas.

His years of public service on the bench and work to ensure the well being of the children and families whose lives became entangled in the justice system make him well qualified to serve as commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Specia takes charge of the agency on Dec. 1. The department Specia will head up is responsible for child and adult protective services and child care licensing. The post was formerly held by Howard Baldwin, who stepped down earlier this month.

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The former 225th District Court judge began his legal career as a regional child-welfare lawyer in San Antonio. Prior to his appointment as a state district judge in 1988, he served as a master in the 289th District Court, which was Bexar County's only family and juvenile court at the time.

During his 20-year tenure as district judge, Specia developed a national reputation as an innovator in developing techniques for dealing with troubled families and children.

He is credited for Bexar County's Children's Court and the Family Drug Treatment Court which have amassed a long list of successes in recent years.